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EDUCATIOIT IN THE TWO ANDOVEES. 



ADDRESS 



DEDICATION 



OP TIES 



PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL 



Tuesday, September 2nd, 1856. 



1^ 



/ i.^^ 



.^^ 



A^ 



B Y , 

REV. SAMUEL FULLER, D. D., 

EECTOE, OF CHRIST CHURCH. 




5AND0 YEE: 
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY W. F. DRAPER. 

1856. 



ADDRESS. 



Fellow Citizens of the two Andovers, 

Towns, as well as individuals, states, and nations, 
have their history. 

The favored territory, of which it is our eminent 
privilege to be citizens, has its interesting civil history ; 
and were it now our business to trace this in its wind- 
ing current, through the period of two centuries, it 
would be necessary to recount the first settlements in 
the fertile valley of the Cochichewic ; the perils of the 
early inhabitants in the savage wilderness ; the promi- 
nent and energetic part they bore in the fierce strug- 
gle for our national independence ; the cheering growth 
of agriculture ; and the subsequent lucrative introduc- 
tion of mechanical arts and manufactures. 

Our ancient township has also an eventful and in- 
structive ccclcsiasiical history ; our present half a score 
of places for public worship being the result under God 
of the humble structure, which was by the founders of 
the settlement erected to his honor within the limits 
of our endeared sister of the North. 

Were the past to be carefully searched, and its am- 



pie disclosures committed to writing, it would be found 
that the family history of the two Andovers was both 
rich and diversified. What spectres of the departed 
flit around the low chimnies and broad fire-places, and 
mutter beneath the moss-decayed roofs and ancient 
elms and sycamores of the few remaining old houses in 
the first occupied localities! Most interesting might 
it prove, not only to the numerous descendants of the 
adventurous men, who, emigrating from Andover in 
the South of England, founded our township in the 
year 1643 ; but also to the other inhabitants, to repeat 
the personal incidents and thrilling traditions which 
the lovers of the venerated spots have in some in- 
stances already rendered historic/'' 

But into none of these inviting paths, which, as we 
look around, display their opening gateways, does the 
exciting occasion that has convened this intelligent 
assembly, allow us to enter ; the time and the place 
rather demanding, that we revert to our ediwaiional Ms- 
iory. 

The town had been settled more than fifty years 
before the first school-house was erected ; a structure 
so low and contracted, that not less than nine such edi- 
fices could be placed upon the floor of this spacious 
hall, and/o?fr in each of our ample school-rooms. 

We readily account for this long neglect of popular 
education, when we recollect, that the hostile incur- 
sions of the surrounding Indians, to which the inhab- 
itants at that rude period were exposed, rendered it 

* PIiSTORY OF Andover, from its settlement to 1829, by Ablol Abbot, 
A. !M. Also, Abbot's Genealogical Kegistek, and Memoiij of Hox. 
S. Phillips, by Kev. J. L. Taylor. 



unsafe for the children to leave their homes, to be con- 
gregated alone, and without defence. 

The building of the first school-house, in the year 
1701, was then an indication of security; a silent pro- 
clamation that the terrific reign of the tomahawk and 
scalping knife had ceased, in the valleys of the Shaw- 
shin and the lower Merrimack. 

It was, however, during this dark interval, that the 
memorable delusion respecting the prevalence of witch- 
craft invaded this region, and carried to the gallows 
not less than three citizens of the infant township. 
That the deadly ravages of superstition should have 
occurred when the little settlement was destitute of 
the means of general education is certainly an instruc- 
tive coincidence, and may naturally suggest the con- 
clusion that the father of lies does himself, become 
schoolmaster, whenever a community is not carefid to 
employ a true one. 

This incipient educational movement in the North, 
was a few years after, imitated in the South Parish ; 
and from these two lowly cradles of learning have 
arisen all the other institutions which have since ap- 
peared in our midst. 

During the eighteenth century, the Parochial Minis- 
ters were the guardians and visitors of the common 
schools, which in the year 1795 amounted to twelve ; 
having almost doubled in the space of forty years. 

To the honor of one of the clerical overseers of these 
primitive schools it is related, that " he had, in his vis- 
its, a facility in instructing and impressing the minds 
of the young ; " and this encomium, we may believe, 



6 



was equally merited by his associates in the work, and 
by their several predecessors. 

Near the close of the century and the beginning of 
the present, came the days of Academies ; and each of 
the two existing Parishes was favored with one. The 
Franklin in the North has ceased to exist ; while the 
Phillips, founded- nearly a quarter of a century earlier, 
continues, with enlarged and expanding life, to difiuse 
far and wide its multiplied advantages. 

Early in the present century, the Corporation of 
Phillips Academy established the Theological Semi- 
nary ; which, since its foundation, laid by praying 
hearts and giving hands, has sent forth hundreds of 
Christian Scholars, who, wherever they have gone, 
whether into our own country, or into foreign and dis- 
tant lands, have proved themselves the devoted friends 
of education, social elevation, and religious improve- 
ment. 

About twenty-five years since, our Classical Acad- 
emy connected with its excellent course a valuable 
English, Mathematical, and Philosophical Department ; 
while soon after, the Abbot Female Seminary was in- 
corporated, and began its important and successful 
career. 

Down to the year 1850, these were within our own 
territory, the only means of education, to which the 
children and youth of Andover had access. 

The Common Schools had been improved, by the 
multiplication of Districts, and by adding to the pre- 
scribed studies, English Grammar, Geography, and a 
few other subjects; but farther than this contracted lim- 



it, the statute, which created and sustains the system, does 
not permit it to go. From their deficiency in adequate 
endowments, our Academies, excellent and distinguished 
as they are, can, save to a very limited extent, unfold 
their doors only to such youthful applicants as are 
able to bear in their hands keys, either of silver, or of 
gold ; while our celebrated Theological Institution, 
though " to all Protestants " charitably " free," both at 
the pecuniary as well as at the doctrinal portal, can, 
from its very nature and the character of its pursuits, 
do nothing directly for the secular education of the 
mass of our people. 

Accordingly, it was with no ordinary satisfaction and 
gratitude, that they received this announcement from 
the Will of the late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, 
Esq. : " I give and bequeath to the town of Andover 
fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of founding a Free 
School; forty thousand dollars for a permanent fund for 
the support of said School, and ten thousand dollars for 
the necessary buildings, etc. Said School to be free for 
all youths resident in Andover, under the restrictions 
of the Trustees, as to age and quaUfications. The Trus- 
tees to have the sole direction ; and power, also, to de- 
termine and decide, whether the School shall be for 
males only, or for the benefit of both sexes. Said 
School to be located in the South Parish of Andover, 
but free for all the parishes equally." 

The unexpected and generous establishment of such 
an institution does beyond all question mark an impor- 
tant era in our educational history ; for as we inspect 
the character and provisions of this new school, we 
clearly perceive that it is a valuable addition to our Com- 



8 



mon Schools ; that it will tend greatly to their improvement ; 
and that its enlarged advantages can be freely enjoyed hy all 
who successfully complete the school system prescribed by 
statute. 

I. I have just said, that the Punchard Free School is 
plainly a valuable addition to our Common Schools. Can 
this remark be justified ? 

At the first view, the school we are now inauguratr 
ing may aj)pear to some eyes as an institution identi- 
cal with the Common Schools; differing from them 
only in the circumstance, that it is not supported, as 
they are, by a town tax. 

Were this the true light, in which to regard the 
school established by our lamented townsman, the way 
of conducting it would be, to receive as many pupils 
as our means would allow, and the rooms would ac- 
commodate, and to give instruction for a year or more 
merely in the higher studies of the Common School 
course. 

While, however, this plan would undoubtedly re- 
heve our citizens from a measure of their taxes, the 
arrangement is impracticable ; it would prove highly 
injurious to the Common Schools ; and it is contrary 
to the evident intention of the philanthropic Founder. 

The arrangement is impracticable, for the conclusive 
reason, that the edifice, in which we are assembled, 
large as it is, and the means in our possession would 
not permit the erection of a larger, could not possibly 
furnish accommodation for all the pupils, who, with 
their modicum of Geography, Arithmetic, and English 
Grammar, would rush into it. 

The arrangement would also prove highly injurious 



9 



to the Common Schools ; inasmuch as it would practi- 
cally deprive the large body of our children of the op- 
portunity of ever enjoying any better literary advan- 
tages than those provided by law. It would in effect 
be saying, even to the most intelligent, aspiring, and 
meritorious, The town will never allow you to acquire 
anything more than the vulgar branches designated 
by the statute-book. Your teachers may, as of old, 
continue to provide 3^ou with the coarse and hard ali- 
ment of Spellers, Definers, Tables, Rules, and Topogra- 
phy, but they shall not permit you to taste the refined 
nourishment of a higher and more nutritive literature. 

In a word : were the Punchard School incorporated 
into the Common School system, it would itself be 
nothing more than a District School for the more gift- 
ed and advanced scholars. It would be what indeed 
is immensely needed in each of the Parishes of our old 
township, a Grammar School, preparatory to a High 
School, but in no respect, either a substitute or an 
equivalent for such an institution. 

But perhaps the most decisive reason for not identi- 
fying our Seminary with ihoi Common Schools remains 
to be mentioned. No such identification is contem- 
plated, but quite the contrary, by the testament of the 
discriminating and charitable Institutor ; who expressly 
states, that youth of both sexes may, and children from 
all parts of the region now constituting the two Ando- 
vers shall, be equally admitted to the benefits of his 
School. 

But were this Academy a mere Grammar School, it 
would, on account of the age and residence of its mem- 
bers, be, in practice, such almost exclusively to the ter- 



10 

ritory formerly embraced by the Centre District of the 
South Parish; thus debarring the children of the remote 
districts, and thus opposing and defeating the large pur- 
pose of the generous man, who, in his bequest, plainly 
designed something more equitable and generally ad- 
vantageous. 

Fdr these weighty and stringent considerations the 
Pmichard Free School cannot be identified with the 
State device for common education ; and since it can- 
not, our youthful ward must, in order to be a school at 
all, be in advance of all usual learning taught by public 
authority. If not in name, yet virtually it must be 
what is generally termed a High School ; an institution 
which continues the common system, and carries it to 
a lofty eminence, to which it cannot itself attain. 

Possibly these observations may be thought .an un- 
necessary attempt to demonstrate a self-evident propo- 
sition. All persons, however, may not thus judge ; as 
there may be some who wish to state, and some who 
wish to know, why there has been so much delay in 
the erection of this house, and why the school has as- 
sumed the character it now possesses. 

With the sum left by him for building, etc., the Trus- 
tees could have purchased soon after the decease of 
Mr. Punchard a small lot of ground, and on it placed a 
low edifice of a single story, or a contracted one of two 
floors. This perhaps they would have done, had the 
will of the Founder restricted the advantages of the 
school to the South Parish ; and then, instead of now 
assembling here for the first time in this spacious and 
elegant structure, in the midst of an ample, retired, 
and commanding domain, to initiate the promising ca- 



11 



reer of a noble institution for advanced education, we 
should long since have been gathered in narrow quar- 
ters, and in some populous neighborhood, merely to 
open a Village Grammar School! dm any one la- 
ment that such was not our straitened destiny ? Hap- 
pily, the men, to whom the donor of the gifts we hold 
in trust, left the fulfilment of his design, had, with his 
Will for their guide, but one path to walk in, and this, 
in the overruling providence of God, conducted them, 
not only to the delightful locality we now occupy, but 
to the high position as a Board of Educators they were 
constrained to take. 

The Punchard Free School is then in its very constitu- 
tion an addition to the Common School System, and not 
an incorporation into its stinted form. Our school is an 
extended radius, enabling the fortunate hand that 
holds it to draw a broader circle than he ever swept 
before. Of the road to knowledge our school is an 
obvious and measurable prolongation, appropriating 
new territory, opening new fountains, crossing new 
streams, commanding new prospects, and leading to 
still wider possessions. Our school is a higher moun- 
tain than has hitherto graced our variegated surface ; 
as though the majestic Wachusett were transferred 
here, to tower above our own familiar hills, and our 
children, whose adventurous feet have until now wan- 
dered only over their summits, were about to ascend 
and tread its overtopping and far-seeing peak. 

I have called this new Institution a valuable addition 
to our own Common Schools. How can its value be 
determined ? By ascertainmg what will be its course 
of instruction. 



12 



It is plain, that the munificent individual who found- 
ed this Seminary, contemplated the establishment of 
an institution Avhich should resemble a High School, 
and the Legislature has consented to regard the Pun- 
chard Academy as a substitute for the school which 
every town containing four thousand inhabitants is 
obliged to maintain; the statutes then prescribing the 
studies for High and Normal Schools will essentially 
aid us in determining the course to be pursued in our 
own School. 

Among the studies thus enjoined are Mathematics, 
Natural Science, Mental and Moral Philosophy, the 
Latin and Greek Languages, and Ehetoric and Logic. 

All these are indeed truly valuable additions to the 
Common School instruction in Orthography, Reading, 
Writing, English Grammar, and Arithmetic. 

Who can adequately exhibit the utility of the Maih- 
ematics, both in disciplining the mind, and in compass- 
ing the visible creation ? 

For example : How highly valuable is Geometry ; for 
by it we learn to measure the material world around 
us, whether we contemplate it in the form of lines, 
or of surfaces, and whether these are straight or curv- 
ed. In this way. Geometry is the essential foundation 
of the measurement of all heights, distances, and solids; 
the indispensable basis of surveying, navigation, me- 
chanics, levelling, engineering, architecture, perspec- 
tive, optics, and astronomy. Without Geometry we 
could not lay out our farms, and determine our right- 
ful landed possessions. We could not erect our private 
dwellings, our school-houses, and our churches. We 
could not construct a bridge, build a railroad, navigate 



13 



the ocean, nor ascertain the size, the motions, and the 
orbits of the heavenly bodies. 

Tliis then is our answer, when we are asked, as we 
often are, by sceptical parents and unwilling children, 
What is the use of geometry ? Destitute of geometry, 
the race of man would be hopelessly savage, compelled 
to live in caves and wigwams, to eat wild fruits, to 
hunt and fish in order to give variety to their scanty 
food ; to think a lunar eclipse occasioned by the 
attempt of a sea-monster to swallow the moon, and to 
be the def)ressed and unhappy slaves of superstitious 
fears which they had not science enough to dissipate. 

But holding in his hand the geometrician's rule 
every scholar seizes the possibility of being a Galileo, a 
Kepler, a Newton, a Herschel, or a La Place. He 
treads the earth with the step of its master. He fixes 
the limits of every man's possessions. He restrains 
and suppresses nomadic life. He establishes law. He 
secures civilization. Before his magic wand the wilder- 
ness is changed to a blooming field. The arts are 
created. Cities rise. Commerce expands. Comforts 
multiply. Happiness increases. With searching eye 
and giant stride, levelling mountains, bridging rivers, 
compelling streams to run in unwonted channels, 
traversing all seas, ranging among the stars, foretelling 
with unerring precision the intricate movements of 
the shining host which bestuds the skies, and gather- 
ing from his illimitable researches resistless and consol- 
ing evidences of the existence, personality, power, 
majesty and beneficence of Almighty God, he deepens 
in us the conviction felt by the Psalmist, " Thou hast 
made man a little lower than the angels." 



14 



In connection with geometry, the Statute defining 
High Schools, prescribes Algebra, a pecuhar kind of 
Arithmetic, characterized for deaUng rather with gen- 
eral, than with definite quantities, and imparting to 
the calculator the power of reaching results by short 
and easy steps, instead of long and tedious processes. 
It is not bestowing upon Algebra too high praise, nor 
magnifying its importance excessively, to say, that 
to this facile mode of computation the astonishing 
achievements of modern science are indebted for a 
very large measure of their success ; for calculations, 
which by their ponderous weight would crush the 
arithmetician with his narrow slate, slow pencil, and 
changing and vanishing digits are to the algebraist 
light, and readily accomplished ; his comprehensive 
mind sporting with all actual and conceivable mathe- 
matical relations with as much ease, as his skilful hand 
plays with the brief signs and unvarying and unerring 
letters, representing these numberless relations. 

The higher mathematics must therefore be invalua- 
ble additions to our course of study. 

As a sequence to the knowledge of mathematics, 
both pure and applied, the study of Natural Science 
Avill so far as our present pecuniary endowment will 
permit them to enter, open to the pupils of this school 
a wide door, and a large expanse. The Statutes fixing 
the studies of Normal Schools, here specify Natural 
Philosophy, Natural History, and Astronomy ; and this 
general outline we shall be glad to extend in all its 
possible ramifications, introducing into our .series, as 
we are able. Physical Geography, Chemistry, particu- 
larly in its application to Agriculture, to the Arts, and 



15 

to Domestic Life, Botany, Geology, and Mineralogy, 
and kindred departments of science. 

Oif the great value of these several studies, it is 
hardly necessary to say a word ; since it must be obvi- 
ous to every reflecting person, that the better we are 
acquainted with the nature and peculiarities of the 
material world, in which it has pleased our bountiful 
Creator to place us, the better shall we be fitted to 
live safely, usefully, and happily in it. In the visible 
and tangible creation which surrounds us, there is 
everywhere a good to be chosen, and an evil to be 
avoided ; neither of which will be in our power unless 
we learn to find instruction in winds, wisdom in 23lants, 
"sermons in stones, and books in the running brooks;" 
accustoming our eyes to see the matchless hand of our 
heavenly Father, and our ears to hear his instructive 
and winning voice in everything. 

But it is good philosophy, as well as familiar poetry, 
that, 

" The proper study of mankind is man ; " 

and accordingly our legislative enactments give due 
prominence to this appropriate study under the heads 
of PJif/sinlogif, H/jgiene, or The laws of Health, Menial 
Philosophic The Principles of Moralilf/, General History ; 
and The Constitidion and History of Massachusetts ^ and of 
The United States. As we desire to be guided by these 
legal prescriptions, when compliance is practicable, 
most, if not all, of these important subjects will receive 
a portion of our teachers' attention. 

Nor are the Zaiin and Greek Languages, Rheionc and 



16 



Logic any less valuable than the studies already 
enumerated. 

It is most honorable to our venerable, wise, and 
provident Commonwealth, that for more than two 
centuries, has she been the constant supporter and 
liberal patron of Classical Learning, and that she now 
requires every town with a population of four thou- 
sand souls to provide competent instruction in the 
Latin and Greek tongues, as well as in Logic and 
Rhetoric. 

There is now as there always has been, a widespread 
prejudice against the study of the languages of ancient 
Greece and Rome. Of those who to-day favor us with 
their welcome presence, there may be some, who, while 
they rejoice with us, that our children are from this 
time to be blessed with higher privileges, regret that 
the fertilizing stream which is to flow from this new 
S]3ring-head of knowledge should be composed in part 
of the waters of antiquity. These old wells answered 
for people w^ho had nothing better, but we of the 
nineteenth century, and of this enterprising and grow- 
ing country should drink from rills and fountains 
w^iicli are more recent and more accessible. This is 
the popular logic, and a very common opinion. 

But, we are confident, the prejudice against Classical 
Literature, like most prepossessions, is, in nearly all 
cases, the child of ignorance. 

In larger measure than is usually supposed, are old 
Greece and Rome the fountain-heads of our own lan- 
guage and literature. Or, to use an illustration per- 
haps more just and apt, the classical dialects are the 
bullion, out of which our own circulating medium of 



17 

thought, taste, and emotion have been extensively 
coined. The precious metals themselves were either 
dug by Grecian miners, or borne by Italian rivers 
to our own hands. These are historical facts; and 
since they are, we can no more fully understand the 
structure and capacity of our own mother tongue, and 
adequately appreciate the nature and garnish of our 
English world of letters, without an accurate knowl- 
edge of the Greek and Latin languages, than we can 
for ourselves determine the exact composition and in- 
trinsic worth of our dollars and eagles, without the 
power of conducting a chemical analysis. 

We know that it is utterly impossible to reduce any 
word to syllables, unless we are familiar with the letters 
of the alphabet. Just as impossible is it to comj)re- 
hend the nature and to perceive, appreciate, and wield 
the powers of the composite speech which is constantly 
upon our lips, unless we are definitely acquainted with 
the elements of which it is compounded. 

It is quite practicable, as we perceive from the won- 
derful exploits of some uncommon children, to learn to 
read by regarding each word as a picture of the idea 
it represents ; the word being viewed as a jDicturing 
whole. But such a learner can know nothing of the com- 
position of the language, any more than we can of the 
materials of the colors or of the canvas, when we gaze 
upon a painting. 

In like manner, the individual, who is ignorant of 
the classics, may acquire an outside acquaintance with 
our own language, while all beneath and beyond the 
surface Avill, to his unpractised eye, be involved in im- 
penetrable mystery and chaotic darkness. 

3 



18 



As an admirable and effective instrument of thouglit 
and feeling, the English language is the elaborated 
work of centuries ; and before it can be employed with 
propriety, efficienc}^, and success, every part must be 
minutely inspected, and its use thoroughly compre- 
hended. This is most true of all other things; and 
w^ould people be instructed by their knowledge even 
of agricultural operations, we should never hear the 
utility of classical learning called in question. 

Take the case of two men, who, with farms equally 
fertile and well prepared, are about to begin sowing and 
planting. Each has just come into possession of his 
estate, and finds his granary furnished with all the va- 
rieties of grain, and his store-room supplied with the 
different kinds of seeds. 

One of the men, however, not having been brought 
up to farming, having neither sown, nor reaped, nor 
thrashed, nor winnowed, nor gathered into barns, can- 
not with certainty distinguish winter wdieat from bar- 
ley, nor turnip seed from that of mustard. In conse- 
quence of his ignorance, he sows his barley in the au- 
tumn, and his wheat in the spring, and gathers nothing 
but straw from either ; at the same time filling his mel- 
low fields with mustard stalks, and his sterile garden 
borders with stinted rutabagas, and growing poor im- 
der this haphazard method of cultivating the earth. 

The other man having from his boyhood followed 
the plough, swung the flail, tossed the fan, and shaken 
the sieve, is skilful in discriminating the different sorts 
of seeds, and therefore makes no essential mistakes, is 
mocked by no impoverishing failures, but receives an 
ample reward for all his wisely directed labors. 



19 



Now words are the seeds, whence grows the produc- 
tion of all conversation, eloquence, writing, and litera- 
ture. The individual, who is not a classical scholar, 
having never with his own eye seen our word-seeds on 
the stalks where they swelled and ripened, nor broken 
with his own hand the polished beads from the case 
where they nestled, nor treasured in his recollection 
their precise appearance, will be perplexed and baffled 
Avhen attempting to distinguish between the difterent 
classes ; and consequently^, will select and scatter his dis- 
course, just as the unpractised farmer does his grains, 
ignorantly, inappropriately, and without effect. 

Far otherwise is it with the person who collects 
these originals of our language in Grecian fields and 
Roman gardens. They are all familiar to his senses ; 
to his sight, his taste, his touch. They are stored in his 
memory. They live and germinate, grov^ and luxuri- 
ate in his imagination. He will not confound them 
with each other, nor mistake them for something else. 
He knows with entire accuracy their nature. He un- 
derstands precisely their properties ; for while toiling 
and delving in the fields of antiquity, he not only dis- 
covers the places of their origin, and familiarizes his 
mind with their forms, but by the incessant analysis 
and synthesis, the processes of resolution and recon- 
struction he is continually performing, he, as it were, 
calls them into life, and produces them anew for him- 
self. Thus derived from the alembic of his own re- 
search, his acquisitions are not merely the gifts of other 
minds, but his own creations; not extraneous loans 
from Homer and Demosthenes, Virgil and Cicero, but 
parts of himself. Conscious of the reality of his pos- 



20 



sessions, and of their identification with himself, he has 
confidence in his powers and attainments ; while this 
consciousness of what exists within him, coupled witli 
the definite knowledge he holds of our language, im- 
parts to his sjDeech and composition a precision, polish, 
strength, beauty, force, and edge, which can be gained 
by no other mode of education. The scholar, enriched, 
disciplined, and transfused by classic lore, can alone 
say, "I speak that which I know;" and because he 
can, his words, forged and tempered upon the only an- 
vil where the best instruments of our discourse can be 
struck, old Vulcan's fire-block, are like barbed and 
winged arrows, shot from a bow of steel ; they reach 
the mark, pierce the breast, and transfix the heart. 

The utility of classical studies is not merely the de- 
monstration of ^philological research : it is likewise the 
teaching of experience. 

Of the three clergymen of the church of England, 
who excited the great religious movement which char- 
acterized the middle of the eighteenth centur}^ George 
AVhitefield was a more eloquent orator than either John 
or Charles Wesley. But Whitefield, notwithstanding 
his moving and surpassing eloquence, was comparative- 
ly illiterate ; his early life among taverns, and stables, 
and theatres, being no substitute for the Grammar 
School and the University, of neither of which knew 
he anything from personal experience. 

On the contrary, the Wesleys were thoroughly train- 
ed collegians ; their love of ancient learning being ex- 
ceeded in their breasts only by their love for Christ, 
and for the souls of the ignorant and perishing. 

A century has passed away, since the voices of these 



21 



preachers stirred the heart of a slumbering nation, as 
the. thunderbolt stirs the sluggish atmosphere; and 
what is the position of each at the present time ? 

Who now reads Whitefield's Discourses ? Or, if any 
person chance to peruse these unskilful productions, 
he wonders that such unhammered wedges could ever 
have pierced and wounded sinful hearts. 

In striking contrast with their more eloquent com- 
peer, the Wesleys are in their refined and widely dif- 
fused writings living an immortal life among their ad- 
miring followers ; controlling and directing at this fleet- 
ing hour a larger number of minds than at any former 
period. 

The same demonstration respecting the usefulness 
of classical knowledge is forced upon us when we dis- 
criminate the heroes of the Revolution. 

In forensic and parliamentary eloquence, Patrick 
Henry was without a rival. But as for teachers he had 
none, save his grasping intellect, his fiery imagination, 
his indomitable will, and the stormy times in which his 
lot was cast. 

Unlike this self-made orator, Alexander Hamilton 
was the favored youth upon Avhom classical instructors 
expended their assiduous care, imparting to their apt 
and graceful pupil a burning and glowing pen, as well 
as a persuasive and commanding tongue. 

As a consequence, how Avidely contrasted is the des- 
tiny of these favorite sons of our Republic ! The back- 
woodsman of Virginia is remembered only in a few 
fragmentary remains preserved by the recollection of 
others ; while the pride, as well as the grief, of the 
Empire State, is immortalized in his profound, scholar- 



22 

ly, and inimitable expositions of our National Consti- 
tution. 

We reach the same demonstration in favor of the 
study of ancient learning, when we compare Benjamin 
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The untaught printer 
of Boston and Philadelphia does indeed amuse and in- 
struct us in his pointed apothegms of Poor Eichard, and 
his brief and dry speeches in the Continental Congress 
were like battering-rams either to demolish the argu- 
ments of his opponents, or to urge onward the laggard 
car of business ; but when the voice of an outraged and 
determined nation was to utter its thunders, defying 
tyranny and demanding the audience of the Avorld, his 
unclassic mouth faltered, and declined the mighty ef- 
fort, and the immortality wdiich radiates with increas- 
ing splendors from our Declaration of Independence 
rests upon the head of the classical Sage of Monti- 
cello. 

From her first settlement has Massachusetts instruct- 
ed her children in the literature of the ancient Greeks 
and Romans; and this protracted instruction, more 
than any other human instrumentality, is the potent 
cause of the high elevation to which she has attained, 
and the great and extended influence she has exerted ; 
and would she hereafter hold the lofty position she has 
gained, she must persist in the policy she has thus far 
pursued with such brilliant success ; for while all her 
schools, even to the humblest, are unfading stars to en- 
lighten our darkness, her classical institutions are the 
brightest constellations in our literary firmament. 

Besides being the only effectual training in our own 
language, a knowledge of Latin and Greek is the best 



23 

possible introduction to the study of the Languages of 
Modern Europe, particuhirly the ItaUan, the French, 
and the Spanish, Avhich, like our own tongue, so abound 
with Latin roots that wdien the language of the old 
Romans is once mastered, these derivative dialects are 
easily acquired. 

No two nations think and act alike ; and conse- 
quently, every additional language we may learn un- 
folds to our minds and affections another world of 
thought, imagination, and emotion, opening a wider 
range, and enriching us with new treasures. For these 
reasons, as well as on account of commercial and inter- 
national convenience, some at least of the Modern Lan- 
guages will be systematically taught in this school. 

But languages, both ancient and modern, in order 
to be in the highest degree available, require to be un- 
der the control of such guides as BJuioric and Logic, 
studies enjoined by the Statute regulating every High 
School, and they will therefore have a place in our 
system. 

The objects of Rhetoric are twofold — Oratory and 
Composition; so that in this department wdll be taught 
both Elocution, and the Art of Writing, which art neces- 
sarily includes a practical acquaintance with the prin- 
ciples of Grammar; and, accordingly the Philosophy, as 
well as the practical use, of the English language will 
here be carefully studied. 

Logic is the art of reasoning; and since God has 
endowed us with the preeminent faculty of reason, 
and constituted it one of the great motive powers of 
the soul, logic is an instrument, without Avhich all other 
attainments are of comparatively small worth; for 



24 



while the exhibitions of truth, learning and science 
may convey instruction and excite our admiration and 
love, gesture may charm the eye, elocution delight 
the ear, and oratory fascinate the imagination and 
affections, it is argument alone, argument smelted, 
refined, solid, linked, and glowing, that convinces the 
judgment, and holds the mind an enduring captive. 

With precise exactness is ihe religious character of this 
institution fixed, both by a statute of the state, and by 
the Will of him, the happy effects of whose generosity 
we are beginning to witness. 

The language of the precious statute, enjoining 
moral and religious instruction in our schools is so im- 
portant, that it ought to be engraven upon the memo- 
ries of us all : — 

" It shall he the duty of the president, professors and 
tutors of the university at Cambridge, and of the sev- 
eral colleges, and of all preceptors and teachers of 
Academies^ and all other instructors of youth, to exert their 
best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth, 
committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety, 
justice, and a sacred regard to the truth, love to their 
countr}^, humanity and universal henevolcnce, sobriety, in- 
dustry, and frugality, chastity, moderation, and temper- 
ance, and those other virtues, which are the ornament 
of human society, and the basis upon which a repub- 
lican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty 
of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as 
their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear imder- 
standing of the tendency of the above-mentioned 
virtues to preserve and perfect a republican constitu- 
tion, and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to 



25 



promote their future happiness, and also to point out 
to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices." 

The religious decision of the Founder of this free 
academy is in these words : — 

" The school shall be under the direction of eight 
Trustees, of whom the Rector of Christ church to be 
one, also the ministers of the South Parish and West 
Parish Congregational Societies to be members ; also 
the remaining five to be chosen by the inhabitants of 
Andover, in town meeting, to serve for three years, 
two of whom to be taken from Christ Church Parish, 
two from the South Parish Society, and one from the 
West Parish Society. No sectarian influence to he used in 
the school ; the Bible to he in daily use, and the Lord's 
Prayer ; in ivhich the pupils shall join audibly tvith the teacher, 
in the morning, at the opening!'' 

This then is our religious character. We are re- 
quired by the State to inculcate the social and moral 
virtues, and the principles of piety ; and we are also 
bound by our deed of gift, the exclusive authority of 
which nothing human, save mifaithfulness, violence, 
or civil revolution can destroy, to use daily the Bible 
and the Lord's Prayer, and when we cease to use them, 
we shall forfeit our bequests. 

With regard to the daily use of the Bible, since no 
body of Christians rejects any part of the Oracles of 
Grod, but on the contrary, all Avho are called by the 
name of Christ profess to receive the inspired words 
just as they are, we can here construct a religious 
platform as broad as the entire volume of the Old and 
New Testaments; can rear the superstructure to a de- 
gree of loftiness which shall extend from Genesis to 

4 



26 



Revelation ; can raise the ladder of revealed truth so 
high that along its golden steps the angels of God shall 
ascend and descend upon the Son of man : in a word, 
we can teach in the language of Scripture all Christian 
truths and duties ; can daily read, pray, sing, and prac- 
tise every portion of the Bible in the common version ; 
and still not justly incur the dreaded charge of sectari- 
anism. 

II. When we thus contemplate this liberal and 
Christian course of study provided by our new institu- 
tion, we cannot avoid inquiring, What will be its cffem 
upon our Common ScJiools ? 

We do not hesitate to answer. The effects will be 
most salutary. It cannot but greatly improve them ; 
and this by its beneficial influence both upon the schol- 
ars and teachers. 

The possibility of enjoying the superior advantages 
of the Punchard School, a possibility which will be 
within the reach of so many children of the towns can- 
not but strongly stimulate the inmates of our introduc- 
tory schools to unwonted efforts in diligent study and 
good behavior, and thus elevate the standard of literary 
attainment and outward manners, now so lamentably 
and fearfully low. The startling disclosures of popular 
ignorance made by the recent examination for admis- 
sion show that such stimulus is imperiously needed. 

This advanced institution may also awaken a gener- 
ous emulation among the several Districts of the two 
townships ; prompting each to surpass the rest by fur- 
nishing the largest number of successful candidates. 

The emulation which stimulates the scholars will 
extend to the teachers, and act most favorably upon 



27 



them, urging to increased carefulness and fidelity, in 
order that their pupils may be fully prepared to com- 
pete with success for an entrance into the higher 
school. 

After another manner will the Punchard Free 
School benefit our other schools. It will furnish them 
with a superior class of teachers. 

Hitherto, our youth of limited pecuniary means 
have, when desirous of fitting themselves for teaching, 
encountered very serious and discouraging impedi- 
ments. In our Academies they were charged with 
tuition ; and at our Normal Schools they must meet the 
expense of board and travel. These weighty hindran- 
ces have prevented very many young persons from 
acquiring the requisite quahfications for the office of 
instructors. But now, through the forethought and 
benevolence of a respected citizen, the remembrance 
of whom all will delight to cherish, we have in our 
own town a free Academy and Normal School, where 
our studious and resolute sons and daughters can re- 
ceive an education, quite equal, if not superior, to that 
imparted by many of our colleges in the early years 
of their history. 

Clearly foreseeing that these and many other bene- 
ficial effects will result to our District Schools from the 
establishment of this institution, we can confidently 
predict the salutary influence it is destined to exert 
upon this whole community, not merely by improving 
the condition of our other schools, but by diff*using 
useful knowledge, elevating the standard of intelli- 
gence and morals, and promoting a refined and Christ- 
ian civilization. 



28 



III. In the will of its honored Founder, this Acade- 
my is called a Free School. It is possible, that the 
nature and extent of its freeness is not sufficiently 
understood. 

This school is free in this respect. To pupils actually 
redding in the townships of Andover and North Ando- 
ver, the instruction will be entirely gratuitous. But 
to the children of other towns the school is not free ; 
nor will books of instruction be furnished without 
charge ; neither will admission to the school be with- 
out reference to age, character, and literary qualifica- 
tions ; but all who are admitted will have reached the 
age of twelve years, and will have sustained a satisfac- 
tory examination in the several studies enjoined by 
law upon the Common Schools, and also furnished evi- 
dence of good moral character. 

With these necessary limitations, the Punchard 
School is free ; and its freeness constitutes one of its 
peculiar and attractive excellencies. 

I have thus attempted to exhibit the character of 
the Punchard Free School, and with as much definite- 
ness as our incipient condition will permit, to describe 
its actual position. 

The additional benefits the institution secures to our 
Common Schools, and to the community at large, are 
truly of very great value ; and in view of these en- 
larged advantages and animating prospects, it becomes 
us to express on this auspicious occasion our heartfelt 
gratitude to the generous individual who conceived 
the noble plan, and prepared the way for its execution, 
fervently to thank the Inspirer of hearts for these and 
all his gifts, and to supplicate the continuance of his 



29 



mercies; as well as to congratulate each other that 
this tasteful building, alike an honor to the architects 
and committee of supervision, an unrivalled ornament 
to our delightful village, is at length completed, and 
that its commodious and inviting halls are now to be 
opened under such competent and experienced superin- 
tendence for the reception and benefit of our waiting 
and impatient children. 

Thus far our citizens generally have done nothing in 
carrying forward this promising enterprise. They are, 
we cannot doubt, grateful for the munificent gift from 
the provident care and liberality of one who was not a 
native of the region he has so signally favored. Will 
not its present inhabitants, especially the numerous 
class who are permitted to call old Andover their birth- 
place, and the meadows of the Cochichewic their ances- 
tral cradle, inquire whether they have not themselves 
duties to perform, in order to enable the guardians of 
this rising school to realize all their bright anticipations. 

The Trustees woidd be faithless to the responsible 
trust committed to them, did they not strive to inspire 
their fellow townsmen with a deep, enduring, and ac- 
tive interest in the cause of poj)ular education. 

Unless, fellow citizens, you feel and cherish this in- 
terest, it will be but to little purpose, that these ample 
and beautiful grounds have been chosen as the shel- 
tered retreat and pleasant home of science, that these 
lofty and impressive stories have been reared, and that 
approved and skilful instructors are ready to dispense 
the treasures of knowledge. The success of this infant 
institution depends mainly upon you who are parents ; 
for as a general fact, the estimation in which children 



30 

hold learning, and the desire they have to possess it, 
depend upon their fathers and mothers. 

If when at home the young habitually hear educa- 
tion decried and depreciated, if it is pronoimced, when 
placed in the balance with the getting of money, and 
the acquisition of property, as lighter than dust, they 
will not submit to the confinement and toil requisite 
to fit them for this Academy, and to carry them profita- 
bly through its course. 

On the other hand, if, under our roofs and at our 
hearthstones, these heavenly precepts are recognized 
and often repeated, " Wisdom is the principal thing ; 
Much better is it to get wisdom than gold, and under- 
standing, than silver ; He that getteth wisdom loveth his 
own soul ; Seek first the kingdom of God, and his right- 
eousness ; Be not conformed to this world, but be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may 
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will 
of God ; Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; " such parental counsels 
will, through his blessing, have their effect ; learning 
and religion will be duly appreciated, our schools will 
flourish, and by their prosperity every temporal and 
spiritual interest will be promoted. 

We earnestly hope that the founding of this school 
will effectually open the eyes of this intelligent and 
liberal community to the chronic and radical defects 
which now characterize our Common Schools : since, 
until these shall be more judiciously arranged, and 
generously supported, the Punchard Free School will 
confer upon us only a scanty measure of the benefits 
inherent in the High School system. 



31 



Our Common Schools imperatively need to be grad- 
noted ; so that the scholars shall proceed in their course 
of education by regular degrees from the Primary De- 
partment, through one or more intermediate ascents, 
up to the Grammar School, and thence to the Pun- 
chard School ; which in this way, would be furnished 
with a much larger number of pupils, and these more 
adequately prepared, than they possibly can be up- 
on the present imperfect and inefficient plan. 

The time likewise that the Common Schools are 
taught requires to be considerably prolonged. Indeed, 
the Common School Year should be conformed to that 
of our Academies, High Schools, and Colleges. This 
year should be divided into three terms ; each of which 
should be continued to the end of the appointed period ; 
and not, as now, frequently terminate with the tenth, 
and sometimes, even with the eighth week of the session; 
while at the close of every term the scholars should be 
examined, and advanced according to their proficiency. 
The uncertainty and irregularity which now prevail, 
prevent the stead}'-, uniform, and certain progress of 
the pupils, and if these cr^'ing evils are not remedied, 
will seriously cripple the operations of the Punchard 
School, which must languish when the supply of mem- 
bers is deficient. As our schools are at present con- 
ducted, the children are dismissed, particularly in the 
winter, before it is in their power to master a sino:le 
branch ; and as a consequence, their education is, in 
most cases, a mere dwarfish skeleton of what the laws 
of the State contemplate it should be. Now that we 
have a High School, which for its own complement, 
efficiency, and success presupposes and demands sys- 






tematic instruction in the preparatory schools, the old 
defective system, where the golden threads of knowl- 
edge are so uniformly and perniciously curtailed, 
should be discarded without delay, and the better 
method of graduation be introduced in its stead. 

These essential reforms will render necessary the 
establishment, in our two townships, of three or four 
Grammar Schools, and also still larger appropriations 
for the support of our rudimental seminaries than are 
at present made. But the certainty of forming better 
scholars, better children, better citizens, better neigh- 
borhoods, and a better community will fully justify the 
changes, and amply compensate for the increased ex- 
pense. Good schools, cost what they may, are cheaper 
than prisons and houses of correction; and good teachers, 
with the highest salaries ever paid them, are less ex- 
pensive, as well as more effectual, guardians of our 
property and persons, than Courts and an armed police. 

While we thus appeal to the whole town to improve 
our Common Schools, we must not fail to mention such 
things as are still necessary in order to perfect the mu- 
nificent plan the Originator of this institution contem- 
plated. Nobly has he laid the foundation ; but its 
superstructure cannot rise in full magnitude and finish- 
ed dimensions, without additional benefactions. 

We have secured a most eligible site ; we have 
erected this spacious building ; we have procured zeal- 
ous and practised instructors ; but farther our endow- 
ment will not warrant our going. To complete our 
outfit, and consummate our instruction, we pressingly 
need large maps and charts to adorn these halls, and 
also globes, a telescope, a planetarium, a Library, geo- 



logical and mineralogical collections, philosophical and 
chemical apparatus, and the creation of Professorships. 

Thus far our wealthy citizens generally have not 
aided in the establishment of this institution for a more 
liberal course of popular education ; will they not 
now show their thankful appreciation of the great 
benefits secured to this people, and the deep interest 
they feel in the worthy object, by promptly supplying 
these our most urgent wants? Towards the com- 
mencement of a Library, the donation and purchase 
of books, in history, literature, and science, would be 
most acceptable to the authorized receivers, as well as 
most useful to the inquiring youth who would read 
the works. 

This outline of our imperative necessities may ap- 
pear large, and even extravagant ; but we do assure you, 
that in no degree does our statement exceed the intel- 
lectual, moral, and spiritual wants of the hundreds of 
children all around us, who, if not educated here, will 
not be educated at all. 

Enviable is the reputation which Andover has al- 
ready acquired for conferring superior literary culture 
upon the residents of other towns and States ; the time 
has arrived when she can win for herself a fame equal- 
ly illustrious, by her efforts to advance and perfect the 
high training of her own citizens. 

The best education of the greatest possible number : 
this is the living, hopeful, and pubhc tree we plant 
here to-day. Around its young trunk, let parents and 
children all flock ! Let the rich and liberal generously 
water its tender roots ! Let strong and loving hands 
grasp, uphold, and defend it ! May warm and pray- 

5 



34 



ing hearts invoke upon it the richest blessings ! May 
God in Christ be propitious, accept it as our free gift 
for His honor, and cause His genial sun to shine, His 
gentle winds to blow. His reviving rain to descend, His 
refreshing and fertilizing dew to fall ! May the loved 
tree of our planting and of our prayers grow from 
year to year in strength, in height, in beaut}^, and in 
fruitfulness ! May its upward increase reach the skies ! 
May admiring ej^es, far as well as near, behold it as 
their hope, their landmark, and their guide ! Beneath 
its impartial shade may Christians aspire after the 
communion of saints, and be persuaded from the shin- 
ing example of the immortal dead, whose enshrined 
name will be reflected from every leaf, that "It is more 
blessed to give than to receive ! " Under its firm and 
spreading branches may larger and larger numbers of 
rejoicing children be yearly gathered ! May its grate- 
ful arbor gladden, and its multipl3dng fruit nourish and 
invigorate, not hundreds merely, but thousands and 
tens of thousands ! From tasting it may all hunger 
after righteousness and the hidden manna, and acquire 
a relish for the beatific fruits borne by the immortal 
trees skirting the river of life in the Paradise of God ! 
Grant all this, our merciful Father in heaven, 
through the mediation of thine only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ, and by the power of the Holy Ghost ; to whom, 
with thee, and the Lamb that was slain, we ascribe 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
and glory, and blessing ; forever ! Amen. 



APPENDIX. 



PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL. 

At a legal Town Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Ando- 
ver, held Nov. 11, 1850, the following Letter was presented to the 
Town for their consideration. 
To THE Selectmen op the Town of Andover. 

Gentlemen : — The undersigned would respectfully represent, 
that, in the last Will and Testament of Benjamin H. Punchard, late 
of said Andover, Esquire, deceased, there is a Bequest, in the words 
following : — 

" The residue of my property, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, 
I give and bequeath to the Town of Andover, for the purpose of 
founding a Free School ; forty thousand dollars for a permanent fund, 
for the support of said School, and ten thousand dollars for the neces- 
sary buildings, etc. providing that, at my decease, if there should 
not be the said amount of fifty thousand dollars, after paying the 
amounts first devised, then the said balance to be kept at interest, till 
the amount is fifty thousand dollars. Said School shall be under the 
direction of eight Trustees, of whom the Rector of Christ Church to 
be one, also the ministers of the South Parish and West Parish Con- 
gregational Societies to be members ; also, the remaining five to be 
chosen by the inhabitants of Andover, in town meeting, to serve for 
three years, two of whom to be taken from Christ Church Parish, 
two from the South Parish Society, and one from the West Parish 
Society. Said School to be free for all youths resident in Andover, 
under the restrictions of the Trustees, as to age and qualifications. 

(35) 



36 



No sectarian influence to be used in the School ; the Bible to be in 
daily use ; and the Lord's Prayer, in which the pupils shall join au- 
dibly with the teacher, in the morning, at the opening : the said Trus- 
tees to have the sole direction ; and power, also, to determine and 
decide, whether the School shall be for males only, or for the benefit 
of both sexes. Said School to be located in the South Parish of An- 
dover, but free for all the Parishes equally." 

Tliey would also represent, that there is a reversion of twenty thou- 
sand dollars, which is ultimately, by the terms of said Will, " to be 
paid over to the Trustees of the School, for which I have made pro- 
vision in this instrument." 

The Will aforesaid has been duly proved, approved, and allowed, 
and the undersigned named in said instrument as the Executors there- 
of, have accepted the trust, and given the requisite bonds for the dis- 
charge of its duties. 

They would farther represent, that they hope and believe the 
Estate will be sufficient to pay all the debts and legacies ; and they 
expect to be ready to pay said legacy of Fifty Thousand Dollars in 
the course of the next spring. 

Believing that it would be desirable for the Town to take some ac- 
tion upon this subject, at an early day, the undersigned have made 
their representations to your Board, in order that the matter might 
be laid before the Town, at their next regular meeting. 

FRANCIS COGSWELL, 
JOHN FLINT, 

Akdover, Oct. 7, 1850. NATHAN FRYE. 

The town voted to refer the whole subject to the following gentle- 
men : N. W. Hazen, Esq., John Aiken, Esq., Dr. E. Sanborn, Dea. 
Solomon Holt, Mr. H. P. Chandler, Capt. Joseph Shattuck, Rev. B. 
Loring, Rev. P. Osgood, and Hon. G. P. Osgood a Committee to re- 
port to the Town at an adjourned meeting. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

Dec. IG, 1850. At the adjourned Town Meeting, the Commi!t- 
submitted the following Resolutions, which were severally rcn- 
considered, and adopted by the Town : 



37 



TJie Committee to whom was referred the whole subject relating to 
the Bequest made to the Town, in the last Will and Testament of the 
late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, Esquire, have had the same under 
their consideration, and report the following Resolutions : — 

1. Resolved, That we gratefully accept the Donation bequeathed 
in the Will of our late townsman, Benjamin Hanover Punchard, 
Esquire, for the foundation and maintenance of a Free School in the 
South Parish in this Town ; and we do for ourselves and our success- 
ors, so far as in us lies, engage to execute faithfully the trust which 
this Bequest and its acceptance impose upon us and them. 

2. That it becomes us, as tlie contemporaries of our Benefactor, to 
record our testimony, to all future time, that the fortune thus devoted 
to the public use, was the gain of honest industry ; that its acquisition 
left no stain upon the justice of its late owner ; that his prosperity 
afforded fresh proof that his affairs are most successful whose conduct 
is governed by the strictest probity : and we do enjoin upon all who 
may be connected with this Charity, whether in its care and dispen- 
sation, or as sharing its benefits, the same rectitude which was uni- 
formly displayed in his life, as the measure of their duty. 

3. That the example afforded by Mr. Punchard, — in the fidelity 
with which he performed all his engagements ; his assiduity and 
thoroughness in business ; his charities ; his purity ; his prudence ; 
his tenderness for the feelings, and his respect for the character, of 
others ; his humble piety, and the depth of his religious devotion, as 
evinced by the terms of his Bequest, — should be constantly set be- 
fore all the youth, who shall ever hereafter become the recipients of 
his bounty, for their imitation. 

4. That we will cherish the memory of his many virtues ; that we 
recognize the obligations conferred upon us by his enterprise and suc- 
cess in adding to the wealth, and increasing the prosperity, of the 
Town ; and that we recommend to the Trustees under his Will, to 
whom he has so largely confided the superstructure of the School, to 
adopt the most effectual measures to associate his name and memory 
with the Institution which he has founded and so munificently endowed. 

.5. That Rev. Samuel Fuller, Samuel Farrar, and Francis Cogs- 
well, Esquires, be a Committee to prepare a Biographical Memoir of 
Mr. Punchard, and cause the same to be printed with the next An- 
nual Report of the School Committee of the Town. 

In order to carry into execution the designs of the said donor, and 
in pursuance of the provisions of his said bequest, we do farther 
resolve — 

6. That we choose at this time by ballot five Trustees, and that 
said Trustees, Avith those designated in said Will, be authorized and 
requested to receive from the Executors thereof, all such sum and 
sums of money as may be now due and payable to this Town, under 
the provisions of said Will, or that may hereafter become so due and 
payable, and to give proper and valid receipts and dischai'ges therefor 
to said Executors. 



38 



7. That the Trustees be directed to apply to the Session of the 
Legislature next ensuing, for the passage of the Draft annexed, into 
an act of incorporation. 

8. That the Letter of the Executors and this Report be entered at 
length on the Records of the Town, and that the Town Clerk furnish 
a copy thereof to the widow of the deceased and to the said Trustees, 
and a copy of said Resolutions and Draft to said Executors. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

N. W. HAZEN, for the Committee, Chairman. 

The Committee nominated Francis Cogswell, Esq., Moses Foster, 
Jr., Esq., Mr. Jacob Chickering, Captain Joshua Ballard, and Captain 
Joseph Shattuck, as a Board of Trustees, and they were chosen by 
the Town by ballot. 

SAMUEL JOHNSON, Town Cleric. 

ACT OF INCORPORATIOI^. 

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. 

An Act, 

To incorporate the Trustees of the Punchard Free School in the 
Town of Andover. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Gen- 
eral Court assembled and by the authority of the same as follows : — 

Section 1. Samuel Fuller, Jolui L. Taylor, Charles H. Pierce, 
Francis Cogswell, Moses Foster, Jr., Jacob Chickering, Joshua Bal- 
lard, and Joseph Shattuck, and their successors are hereby constituted 
a Corporation by the name of the Trustees of the Punchard Free 
School, to exercise all the powers and perform all the duties derived 
to them under the Will of the late Benjamin Hanover Punchard, 
Esquire, subject to all the liabilities and with all the rights set forth 
and conferred by the forty-fourth Chapter of the Revised Statutes, and 
by this Act, not inconsistent with the provisions of said Will ; and the 
possession, control, and management, of the fund bequeathed to the 
Town of Andover by said Will in the corporate name of said Trustees 
for the purposes and uses therein expressed, is hereby confirmed to 
said Trustees and their successors forever. 

Section 2. The said Trustees may purchase and hold Real Estate 
to an amount not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ; and may 



39 



hold personal Estate to an amount not exceeding one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, and it shall be the duty of said Trustees to loan all the 
funds of said Coi'poration not required for the immediate purposes of 
the School, upon interest, in sums of not less than two hundred dollars 
each, upon the bond or note of the borrower, payable in one year, 
with a mortgage of real estate situate either in the County of Essex, 
Suffolk, or Middlesex, of at least twice the value of the sum loaned, 
as collateral security for the repayment of the same with interest 
semi-annually ; provided however that such loans may be made to 
Towns or Cities, in their corporate capacity upon the note or bond 
of their Treasurer or other person or persons duly authorized, with- 
out other additional security. 

Section 3. A Board of Trustees shall be chosen by said Town of 
Andover by ballot, according to the provisions of said Will, on the first 
Monday of April once in three years ; and the first regular election 
hereafter shall be held on the first Monday of April in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty -three, and until said election the 
aforenamed Trustees shall have and execute all the powers and perform 
all the duties and obligations herein mentioned and required. 

In case of the removal of any Trustee from Town, his office shall 
thereupon be vacated, and vacancies from this, or from any other cause, 
may be filled at any Town Meeting held after the same shall occur ; 
and the Trustees who have been or may hereafter be chosen by the 
Town, shall remain in office, until others are chosen in their stead. 

Section 4. The Board of Trustees provided by said Will shall 
choose a Treasurer, who shall give a Bond to the Inhabitants of An- 
dover, with one or more sureties, in the penal sum of at least Ten 
Thousand Dollars, for the faithful performance of the duties of his 
office, which bond shall be approved by the Selectmen of the Town 
for the time being. The Books of said Treasurer shall be at all times 
open to the inspection of the Selectmen of said Town, or any of them. 

Section 5. The said Trustees shall annually, on or before the first 
Monday of March, render to said Town an account of the condition 
of said fund, and of the receipts and expenditures thereof; and said 
account shall be audited by the Town Auditors, and printed in their 
Annual Report. 

Section 6. The said Trustees shall make an Annual Repoi't of the 
condition of said School, specifying the number of Scholars who have 



40 



attended the same, and their deportment and proficiency, and said Re- 
port shall be printed with the Annual Report of the School Commit- 
tee of the Town. 

Section 7. Five Trustees shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
action of business. 

Section 8. This Act shall take effect from and after its passage. 

House of Representatives, February 24, 1851. Passed to be en- 
acted. N. P. Banks, Jr., Speaker. 

In Senate, February 26, 1851. Passed to be enacted. 

Henky Wilson, President. 
February 26, 1851. Approved. 

GEORGE S. BOUT WELL. 

Secretary's Office, Boston, February 27, 1851. I certify the fore- 
going to be a true copy of the original Act. 

Amasa Walker, 
Secretary of the Commonwealth. 



COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

In the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. 

An Act, 

In addition to an Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Punchard 
Free School in the town of Aiidover. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives, in Gen- 
eral Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — 

Section 1. The Town of Andover is hei'eby exempted from the 
requirements contained in the fifth section of the twenty-third chap- 
ter of the Revised Statutes, applicable to Towns containing four thou- 
sand inhabitants : provided, that this Act shall not be construed to im- 
pair the right of the inhabitants of said Town, at any legal meeting 
called for the purpose, to establish and maintain such a school as is 



41 



required in said fifth section, of Towns containing four thousand in- 
habitants. 

Section 2. This Act shall take effect on and after the opening of 
said Punchard Free School. 

, House of Representatives, March 26, 1856. Passed to be enacted. 

Charles A. Phelps, Speaker. 

In Senate, March 28, 1856. Passed to be enacted. 

Elihu C. Baker, President. 

March 29, 1856. Approved, 

HENRY J. GARDNER. 

Secretary's Office, Boston, April 2, 1856. A true copy of the 
original Act. Attest, 

Francis DeWitt, 
Secretary of the Commonwealth. 

At the second election of Trustees, held on the first Monday of 
April, A. D. 1853, the following gentlemen were chosen by the Town, 
viz. 

MOSES FOSTER, JR., JACOB CHICKERING, 

NATHAN FRYE, NATHAN W. HAZEN, 

JOSEPH SHATTUCK. 

And at the third election of Trustees, held on the first Monday of 
April, A. D. 1856, the same gentlemen were re-elected for the ensu- 
ing three years. 

Rev. John L. Taylor, and Rev. Charles Smith, as ministers of the 
South Parish Congregational Society, and Rev. Charles H. Pierce, 
as minister of the West Parish Congregational Society, severally 
served as members of the Board of Trustees, agreeable to the provis- 
ions of Mr. Punchard's Will, until their pastoral relations with their 
Societies were dissolved. 

The Board as at present constituted is composed of the five lay 
gentlemen above named, with the following clerical members provided 
by said Will, viz. 

Rev. Samuel Fuller, D. D. Rector of Christ Church. 

Rev. George Moore, Pastor of the South Parish Cong. Society. 

Rev. James H. Merrill, Pastor of the West Parish Cong. Society. 

6 



42 



The Trustees were unable to determine upon a suitable location for 
the School Edifice until September, 1853, when, after they had exam- 
ined some ten or twelve diiferent situations, and discussed their con- 
flicting merits, the attention of the Board was for the first time directed 
to the present locality, which at once commended itself to their judg- 
ment as possessing superior advantages to all others under consider- 
ation. In three days afterwards the Committee on Locations were 
instructed by a unanimous vote to purchase the approved site. 

This Lot comprises about eight and one fourth acres, and was pur- 
chased of Mr. Joseph Richardson, for the sum of twenty-one hundred 
dollars. 

In May, 1854, plans for a School Edifice, having been adopted, 
Messrs. Nathan Frye, Jacob Chickering, and N. W. Hazen, were 
chosen a Building Committee. This Committee concluded a contract 
with ]Mr. William H. Boardman, of Lawrence, for preparing the cel- 
lar and foundation, and also contracted with Messrs. Abbott and 
Clement, of this Town, housewrights, for the erection and completion 
of the Building. The foundation was commenced in June, 1855, and 
the Edifice was completed, Sept. 1, 1856. 

The building is seventy-five feet long, forty-five wide, and two 
stories high. The material above the stone basement is pressed 
brick, with rustic corners of freestone, and the roof is slated. The 
whole expense of the structure, was about nineteen thousand dollars. 



INSTRUCTORS. 

The first Principal was Peter Smith Byers, A. M., of Andover, 
an Alumnus of Harvard University, an Assistant Teacher in Phillips 
Academy in this place, and Principal of the High School, in the City 
of Providence. He was elected March 13, 1854, resigned on ac- 
count of failing health, April 7, 1855, and died March 19, 1856. A 
Memorial of this lamented Scholar and exemplary Christian, was 
published by his College classmates. 

The present Principal is Nathan M. Belden, A. M., of Wilton, 
Connecticut; who is an Alumnus of Trinity College, Hartford, in 
which institution he was a Tutor. He was elected to the Punchard 
Free School, January 31, 1855. 



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